The Continuing Adventures of Brynn and Hanso
by Star-Speckled Dragon
Summary: A oneshot series following the antics of Faerieland's most famous duo. Sometimes just friendly, sometimes romantic; more details inside. Current story: Chance and Fate (Part 1)
1. Snow Day

Hot dog, I've jumped on the bandwagon! *brick'd* Heh, okay, not quite. I've actually been planning to make a oneshot series like this for a while now, and finally managed to get it started.

Anyway, I should probably explain how this is going to work. Basically, this is a series of oneshots that involve Brynn and Hanso and usually will have something to do with some aspect of their relationship. Now, this could mean a lot of things – some oneshots will be romantic, of course, but others will focus more on just their friendship or pre-TFR-acquaintanceship. Depending on the individual story, they could also be light and funny or dramatic, deep or simple, and take place in the past, present, or even the future (seeing as Neopian time pretty much moves forward with our time). I may also take a few requests (though I won't guarantee that I'll take every request – just the ones that I am able to work with. Also, don't bother asking for anything sexual or the like, because it ain't happening.) If you have questions about anything regarding these stories (how I envision the Faerieland guard, something about a particular character, etc), feel free to ask! If I get a lot of questions, I may set up an FAQ in the author's notes section of a future chapter.

* * *

_**Summary:** A special sort of Faerieland holiday has arrived, and Hanso isn't about to let anything get in the way of sharing it with his best friend._

Now, as for this first oneshot… Snow Day was a fun little idea that I came up with months ago and started writing with plans to have it up as a "taking place now" story this past winter. Unfortunately, a combination of writer's block in the last section and distractions with other writing projects made it… very late. On the other hand, though, I seem to recall that Faerieland pretty much appeared in the southern hemisphere on the map before it crashed, so maybe it uses southern seasons and winter would actually be coming up for the Faerielanders? This oneshot would actually be a bit early in that case. It really works either way :)

A few quick notes on the story: first off, the characters (particularly Brynn) feel like they may be a tad OOC at some points. I don't think they really are, though; like I mentioned earlier, this is meant to be a fun and slightly fluffy piece, and they're just really enjoying themselves on their "day off." Please let me know if you still think they're a bit off and, if so, how to fix it for future reference. Also, I live in Florida and don't have much experience with snow-based activities, so it's possible that some of those scenes may be kind of weird. If they are, please forgive my error and imagine that that's just how they do it in Faerieland.

* * *

**Snow Day**

"Bryyyynn… Hey, Brynn, wake up!"

Hanso gently shook his friend's shoulder as she mumbled incoherently in her sleep. After a moment, she bolted upright, causing him to jump back.

"Hanso!" Brynn hissed. "What are you doing in my room?"

Hanso put his hands up innocently. "You gave me a key to your house, remember?"

Brynn groaned as she slipped out of bed and began to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "You know that's only for emergencies – not so you can just waltz into my house whenever you feel like it! What are the neighbours going to think?"

Hanso snorted and leaned back against the wall. "Brynn, it isn't even seven in the morning yet. I doubt anybody even saw me come by."

Brynn sighed. "Fine. You still haven't told me what you're doing here, though," she remarked. Rubbing her arms, she added, "It's really cold this morning, isn't it? We should –"

Brynn paused – that wasn't right. Faerieland rested more or less in the middle of a tropical rainforest these days; it practically straddled the equator. There shouldn't _be_ any cold mornings here! Startled, the Kougra turned her attention back to Hanso. He was grinning now, and for the first time she noticed that he was dressed much more warmly than usual. There could be only one explanation for all of this, and when she darted to her bedroom window and threw open the curtains, her suspicions were confirmed.

One of Faerieland's more unique traditions has carried over rather nicely from the days when the country was situated on a cloud, too high in the sky to receive any real precipitation. On one randomly and secretly chosen day of each winter season, a team of air and water faeries gathers very early in the morning and begins a massive project in temporarily altering the area's weather. Their goal itself is simple: To generate the conditions necessary for a good, hearty snowfall that will leave Faerieland blanketed for the entire day, while keeping the air just cold and crisp enough to sustain the snow.

The end result of this endeavour left Brynn in awe. Those faeries had really perfected their technique over the years, and the city held a picturesque winter beauty that rivalled that of Happy Valley. Already, a number of children and adults alike had begun to wander out into the snow, rejoicing in both the once-per-year opportunities it offered and the holiday from classes and most jobs that would soon be declared in honour of the tradition.

Hanso sidled up to his friend and joined her in staring out the window. After a few moments, he turned to her with a wink and said, "I'll head out and let you change. Meet ya outside in a minute!"

0 * 0 * 0

Not long after, a much more warmly-dressed Brynn joined Hanso outside. She took a deep breath of the crisp winter air as the two began walking toward the heart of the city.

"I hope the Faerieland armour holds in heat well," she remarked offhandedly. "This weather is really nice for a snowy day, but it's still going to be cold."

Hanso pouted. "You still have to go in for work? What about the holiday?"

Brynn shook her head and gave him a sad smile. "Hanso, you know the guard can't just close down for the day. Criminals don't exactly take days off to follow traditions, and we have to keep the kingdom safe."

Hanso sighed dejectedly, and then assumed a thoughtful expression. "Well," he said, "It's _too bad_ nobody tracked down Aethia this morning and casually reminded her that you missed last year's Snow Day because you were busy taking care of dangerous artefacts in the Lost Desert, and that you'd probably enjoy getting a day off for this one since it'll be your first. I bet she would have really taken to the idea…"

Brynn halted and stared at him, her eyes wide. "You didn't!"

Hanso laughed and put his hands up. "Hey, she thought it was a great idea! Besides, the Battle Faerie used to handle the guard on her own all the time – heck, she still does whenever we have to go hunting for artefacts. She'll manage without her captain for one day. Now come on, I think I saw a huge snowball fight going on back there!"

The Ixi turned and began to sprint off excitedly, leaving a still-dazed Brynn looking on in disbelief. Slowly, a broad smile stretched across her face, and she finally laughed and broke off running after him.

0 * 0 * 0

The next few hours passed by quickly. After Brynn managed to slow Hanso down enough to remind him that they still had to grab breakfast, the two easily located and joined in on the snowball fight that he had seen earlier. It was as massive as he had remembered, and even included a few of the younger guards lucky enough to have the day off and (though he would never reveal it) one of Hanso's old friends from the Thieves Guild. The Ixi and Kougra were almost immediately placed on opposing teams, and soon found themselves head to head, laughing and issuing challenges to one another as they pelted each other with snow.

It was a bit of an odd feeling, Brynn considered as she twisted out of an oncoming snowball's path only to be nailed in the back by one of Hanso's sneakier attacks. The two had been working so closely together for over a year now, and yet being on opposite sides again felt somewhat… natural.

_Still_, she thought with a light smirk as she slunk around the playing field in an attempt to edge closer to her target, _this is so much better than chasing him around Brightvale all the time and having to be enemies._ This _is a game; something friends do._

_Something best friends do._

Hanso seemed to catch on to what she was trying at that moment, because he suddenly started backing away, and then turned to make a run for it. Brynn's smirk broadened. Scooping up a haphazard handful of snow, she darted after him. Here was that familiarity again, the old game of Kadoatie and Miamouse – and this was a game that she always seemed to beat him in. She caught up to him quickly and, having failed to properly compact the snow in her hands in that time, she instead grabbed the back of his collar and unceremoniously stuffed the snow down his jacket. Hanso actually yelped at that, causing Brynn to collapse helplessly into a fit of laughter.

"Oh, think that's funny do you?" Hanso cried, suddenly wearing a smirk of his own as he flung a messy handful of snow back at the Kougra.

By this point, the two were beginning to feel more like silly little kids than the mature, responsible (well, maybe that part mostly just applied to Brynn) adults that they had become. But right then and there, it didn't really matter.

They were making up for lost time, after all.

0 * 0 * 0

As the sun began to edge towards the horizon and the snowball war gradually broke apart, Hanso and Brynn found themselves wandering through the rare treat that was wintery Faerieland. All around them, giggling children were hard at work building snow pets or else on their backs, carving out snow angels. Hanso nudged his friend and pointed out a completed set of snow pets – a Kougra and an Ixi set together, carefully decorated in just such a way that they looked awfully familiar. The two shared a good laugh at that.

Out past the main city, a number of stands selling borovan and other warm treats had been set up. All of the lakes and rivers were frozen over, with the exception of the Healing Springs (which, like the Faerieland guard, couldn't be closed down for the day). Even so, there seemed to be an even larger crowd than usual at the Rainbow Fountain.

Brynn and Hanso came up to the fountain to discover that an ice rink had been set up at the frozen pool, with Naia joyfully overseeing the skating Faerielanders. Hanso couldn't help but wonder if she was simply relieved to have a day off from turning away pets who hadn't completed one of her quests.

Brynn gasped. "Oh, I love ice skating! We've got to try this!"

Hanso hung back. "Uhh… I'm not sure about that…" he answered hesitantly.

Brynn turned to him. "How come?

"Well… I've never exactly skated before." With a sheepish smile he added, "You don't really get much of a chance to when you've grown up a thief."

Brynn chuckled lightly and took his hand. "I'll just have to teach you, then," she replied as she led him through the crowd to the frozen pool.

The two pets entered the rink a few minutes later, Brynn gliding smoothly over the ice on her newly-rented skates while Hanso wobbled a little and immediately clung to the wall. The Kougra had to suppress a smirk as she tried to coax her friend out onto the ice.

"Come on, Hanso, you're hardly even tried!"

"Can't I just go along the wall like those guys are doing?" Hanso pleaded, gesturing toward a group of small children scooting around the rink. Brynn gave him a flat look.

"But I like the wall! The wall is my friend!" he went on, awkwardly patting its side. "It won't let me down. Literally!"

Brynn raised an eyebrow. "And you think I would?"

In the end, Hanso finally agreed to trade his precious wall for Brynn's arm. She kept to a slow and steady pace as they circled the rink, and he eventually stopped wobbling quite so much and began to imitate her rhythm.

The evening wore on, and before Hanso knew it, he was looking up at a starry sky. He grinned and nudged Brynn's shoulder with his own.

"Hmm?" She followed his gaze up toward the twinkling lights and smiled.

"Short day, huh? It was worth it, though," Hanso chuckled. Brynn nodded and put her hand over where his was gripping her arm to give it a gentle squeeze.

"Thanks for giving me a chance to share it with you," she said.

"No problem," he replied, still grinning. "It was a lot better this way."

Brynn grinned back, and then began to pick up speed. Hanso let out a slight yelp before adjusting his pace to match hers, and they laughed as the enchanted snowfall sparkled around them and the stars in the Faerieland sky shone overhead.

* * *

So... I guess that's it for now! I hope you enjoyed it ^_^ I'll have to warn you all, I'm working on a series for the Neopian Times right now and it will probably take a while, so it'll most likely be a little while before I get the next oneshot for this series ready. Until next time!


	2. In the Light of Tomorrow

Long time no see, guys! I'm actually still working on that series I mentioned last time, but it's been slow going and I needed to take a break and work on something else for a little bit, so here we are :)

_**Summary:** When Hanso decides to show Brynn something that he's recently discovered about Faerieland, what begins as a simple night of relaxation takes on a deeper meaning than either could have predicted._

Fun fact: the original/basic storyline for this piece was inspired by the song "I See the Light" and its companion scene from the movie _Tangled_ (Seriously, I swear Hanso is Flynn's cross-dimensional twin or something), and it kind of grew from there. As you may have guessed by the point of inspiration, this is also one of the more romantically-oriented pieces; I decided to go with one of those next in response to an anonymous reviewer's request for "more romance." It's one of my first real forays into the genre, so hopefully I've done a fair job with it.

* * *

**In the Light of Tomorrow**

A pale pink and orange glow washed over the cobble streets of Faerie City. The sunset was deep and bright this evening, and even the jagged edges of the most broken buildings seemed a little bit softened in the warm light.

Not that Hanso was paying all that much attention to the sunset this evening. And not that he gave his closest friend much of a chance to enjoy it as he practically dragged her through the outskirts of Faerieland.

"Mind telling me where we're going?" Brynn panted as she sprinted to keep up with him. Hanso merely grinned back at her, but he finally began to slow his pace as the pair passed the Healing Springs.

"It wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you, now would it?" he teased, releasing his grip on her hand.

It was Brynn's turn to grin this time. "Oh, so it's a surprise now? At least that explains why you've been so quiet for once."

Hanso chuckled at the light jab. That was a good sign – she was in high spirits today, something that he'd worried might not be the case in the midst of the frantic scramble to get the recently-crashed Faerieland back in working order again. He stopped in his tracks and rubbed his hands together as he scanned their surroundings. _This should be far enough out_, he considered silently.

"All right, now we just need to find a good place to sit…" the Ixi muttered. Brynn raised an eyebrow.

"'Sit?' Are we out here to watch the sunset or something?" she guessed.

Hanso shot her another playful grin and a wink. "Sunset's already halfway through, sweetheart. _This_ is something better."

After another moment of searching, he spotted a gnarled oak tree resting by a little stream. _Perfect!_ He quickly made for the oak and beckoned for Brynn to follow.

The Kougra gave her friend a questioning look as he plopped down in front of the tree and leaned back against its trunk, hands resting behind his head. She sat beside him after a moment, but continued with her expectant stare until he finally caved in.

"Okay, so you know how I've been sorta… exploring Faerieland while you've been adjusting to the guard?" he asked, sitting up. Brynn nodded, her eyebrow raised just a little.

"Well, the other night I was kind of out by the edge, not too far from where we are now, and I saw something that was pretty cool." He leaned back again, that ever-present smile still tugging at his lips. "I thought you might like to see it, but first we have to wait for nightfall."

"Hmm." Brynn must have been able to tell that he wasn't going to say any more, because she gave no other response and simply settled back, crossing her own arms in front of herself as she relaxed. A comfortable silence fell between the two as the sun continued its gradual dip beneath the horizon, and Hanso closed his eyes, nearly forgetting his purpose for coming out here as he simply relished in the company of the amazing young woman seated beside him.

"Oh!"

Hanso's eyes flickered open when Brynn suddenly leaned forward with a soft gasp. He followed her gaze back toward the city, and his lingering smile broadened into a grin yet again. It had begun.

From their vantage point, it was as if a massive flock of wayward stars was bursting forth from the heart of Faerie City. Pinpricks of brightly coloured light, in mixed hues of yellow, red, purple, green and blue, floated delicately into the sky and began to disperse out and away from the kingdom. Ahead, the curving ribbon of the stream took on a slightly darker shade of glowing blue that leisurely spread up towards where the stream itself passed by their tree.

Hanso stole a quick glance at Brynn's expression. The enraptured Kougra seemed to be figuring out what he had learned the other night: Those tiny lights were the glowing auras of faeries, all members of the miniature and often nocturnal variety best known for preferring forested dwellings and granting small magical blessings to fortunate pets. To be honest, Hanso hadn't even known that these kinds of faeries actually lived in Faerieland at first; even with their night-loving habits aside, they apparently tended to value their privacy.

Hanso cocked his head as he suddenly thought of something. "You'd think Balthazar would be having a field day out here," he considered aloud. "I wonder why these guys are still so carefree, wandering around in such an obvious target area for faerie hunters."

Brynn chuckled at the comment, though her eyes remained trained on the swirling faerie-lights. "There's actually a pretty good reason for that," she replied. "There's a magical barrier set up a few miles out around the city's perimeter. It takes too much power to hold up against more than a few specific targets, but... Well, I'd imagine that Balthazar's pretty high on the list of enemies around here."

Hanso nodded in understanding, and silence once more fell between the pair as they watched the dancing lights. He thought they looked a bit like fireworks in slow motion, though without quite so many explosions. Actually, come to think of it, adding a few explosions to the whole effect might be kind of cool. It was beautiful and all as it was, sure, but maybe if he got a chance to talk with some of the fire faeries –

Hanso was jolted out of his thought process by the swift realization that Brynn had just sat back again and rested her head on his shoulder. He briefly hoped that she wouldn't be able to hear the sudden pounding in his chest, only to be distracted when another sound reached his ears.

"I didn't know Kougras could purr," he said casually. Brynn's face immediately flushed over, and she sat up and looked away.

"We don't. It comes out as a growl," she replied, just a little too stiffly. Hanso shot her a sidelong glance and smirked.

"Oh, so you were growling at me and at all this lovely scenery just how?"

Brynn's blush deepened, and she sighed in defeat. "...No. I was purring," she muttered.

The Kougra took a deep breath and looked around them, leaving Hanso to mentally kick himself for surprising her into removing her head from its resting place. The tiny faeries were all around by this point, some disappearing into the trees farther back while others felt content to frolic in the nearby grass. A few had even noticed the presence of the larger visitors and crept up to scrutinize them. Hanso wondered whether any of them recognized him and Brynn, but if they did, they weren't giving any indication.

"Thank you for showing this to me," Brynn said softly.

"Don't mention it," Hanso muttered back as he engaged in a staring contest with a nearby light faerie. He heard Brynn sigh beside him.

"This really is wonderful," she went on. "I guess I should have trusted you to know what you were doing."

Hanso blinked in confusion. He barely noticed the faerie pumping her fists in the air victoriously amid the cheering of her friends as he turned to look at the Kougra, bewildered by her sudden strange apology.

Realization dawned on him when he saw that she was staring off towards the area where the confrontation with Xandra had taken place less than a week before. His expression fell, and he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Hey! Don't get like that," he murmured. Brynn closed her eyes for a moment before sighing again and turning back to him.

"Bad timing, I know," she chuckled mirthlessly. "It's just... hard to forget sometimes. I never did apologize for acting so forceful back there. I'm sorry." She bit her lip. "I guess I was just so afraid of losing you that I would try anything to keep you from getting into trouble. I didn't even realize that it was only making things worse, until..." Her eyes began to glisten with tears. "I almost lost you after all. _Twice_."

Hanso shrugged. As frustrated as he had gotten at times, he couldn't really blame her – she was a knight and he a thief, after all. "Hey, it's all right. We got through it, right? And look where we are now!"

Brynn only gave a half-hearted nod in reply, so Hanso decided to try a different tactic. The slightest hint of a sly smile crept onto his face – he'd been waiting for the right time to bring this up.

"Is that also why you told me you loved me?"

Brynn's eyes widened, and the blush returned to her cheeks. "You knew what I was trying to say?"

The smile broadened. "Why did you think I cut you off? I was trying to put on a show for Xandra, and if I'd let myself hear you say _that_, I probably would have cracked and messed it up, because, well," it was his turn to blush, "in case you didn't notice, I kind of feel the same way."

In all honesty, Hanso supposed that dredging up the demons of the recent past had been inevitable – Brynn wasn't the only one who had been stung by the whole conflict, after all. But at the same time, he realized that he wouldn't have traded the ultimate end of it all for the world. Now the lowly thief had promise, a hope, a future, a friend... maybe something even more than a friend, and they would get through the rebuilding and the confusion and the leftover pain together, just as the faeries who continued to fearlessly dance and laugh around them would.

And perhaps, he thought as she finally smiled with him and threw her arms around him and kissed him for the second time, perhaps they were already on their way.

* * *

Hope you all liked it! By the way, I'd really like to get a nice cover picture for this series, but my artistic abilities are too limited for me to dare try drawing up the right kind of scene myself and I'm not certain where else would be the best place to look. Does anyone happen to have any ideas or possibly artistic talents that they'd like to offer?

Anyway, better get back to that series for now. I think I've decided which kind of story to do next, and it will likely be short and simple enough that it won't take too long to write if the series continues to go slowly and I need another break ;)


	3. Palace Duty

And the series is finally back in business!

_**Summary:** Brynn is taking on one of a Faerieland guard's most special duties today. Hanso plans to take full advantage of this._

This little ficlet is something that's been swimming around in my head for quite a while now, and I've been waiting for the right time to write it up. I decided that now would be a good time for a few reasons: to celebrate both the completion of that Neopian Times series I spent so long hammering out (For those of you who haven't seen my profile update, it's called _Unbreakable_ and the first part will probably be up in the NT within a week or two. Keep an eye out if you're interested!) and the end of the school semester, and because the next oneshot needs to be put up soon and I wanted to get something out that could be done quickly so I could shift my focus to that. This here is just a fun, silly little piece, but I hope you guys enjoy it all the same!

* * *

**Palace Duty**

It was the most honoured and important duty that a Faerieland guard could perform in times of peace; the post that would make one stand out as a true member of _Fyora's_ guard. As such, palace duty required complete discipline and focus, to the point where those knights currently on rotation were expected to ignore any and all distractions, often remaining almost completely still unless a threat presented itself to their queen's home.

And so, naturally, Hanso considered it his job to try and grab their attention in as many ways as possible.

Surprisingly, this was one method of messing with the guards that Brynn was okay with. Tourists did it all the time anyway, and she was confident in the ability of her knights to put his antics aside and focus on the task at hand. Sometimes, she would even accompany him in order to watch and make sure that they were living up to the expectations of their post.

This time, however, Hanso would be going at it alone. This was because today, Brynn herself was one of the guards on palace duty.

Hanso put a hand to his chin, deep in thought as he considered his options. He kept a fair distance away from Brynn, the burly Eyrie standing across from her, and the very pointy-looking spears both wielded. That was rule number one of this little game – don't get too close or you might catch a guard in a bad mood and get yourself mistaken for a threat.

In any case, he had to come up with a good game plan. The standard silly faces, pointless chatter and random posing simply wouldn't do when his main target was both the Captain of the guard and his own best friend.

Finally, an idea came to him. Hanso grinned – even though this probably wouldn't amount to any more of a reaction than his efforts usually did (which is to say, none), it might lead to a bit of an interesting conversation later.

"So," the Ixi said in a bit of a loud tone, stepping directly into Brynn's line of sight, "I've been thinking, and this whole hero thing is a pretty sweet gig. I mean, come on, we're famous! Do you realize just how famous we are?"

Hanso glanced up at Brynn's face, hoping that the admittedly ridiculous line might elicit at least an eye-roll. The Kougra stared straight ahead. Darn.

"But anyway," he went on, "I'm trying to decide just what the best part of being famous is. The Neopedia articles are pretty cool, but then again, I'm not sure it's all that special. I mean, the Neopedia also has articles on cranky homebody witches and some apple bobbing guy."

Hanso paused, and then stepped a little to the side and responded to himself in an imitation of Brynn's voice that was far too high-pitched and had a bad Brightvalean accent, "But Hanso, the Neopedia is an important global source of information! Every article has some important value, and it is an honour to be included amongst its pages."

Hanso stepped back, shrugged and replied in his normal voice, "Okay then, so does that mean it's your favourite little worldwide acknowledgement?

"No, I'm just arguing with you because I feel like I have to. And because you do a rotten job of impersonating me," the imitation voice said.

The real Brynn said nothing.

Hanso huffed. "Then what is? I'm personally leaning towards getting those little plushies of myself as my crowning achievement, but what about you?"

The Ixi stopped then, having pretty much reached the end of his "conversation." He took another expectant look at the two guards by the palace door, pretending to himself that Brynn might actually look back at him and give him an answer. She didn't, of course, and the other guard gave no response either.

Hanso stood there a bit awkwardly for a moment and then shrugged again, dropping the act. "Well, I'm bored. I'll see you later Brynn," he called out before turning around to leave.

"The Gallery of Heroes."

Hanso froze. Had she just –? He whipped around and gave Brynn a long, hard look to try and determine whether she had seriously just spoken. The Kougra was as stony-faced as she had been moments ago, and nothing in her expression suggested that she'd so much as noticed his one-sided conversation.

Hanso shook his head. No, he must have just imagined that reply. Brynn hadn't even spared him a reproachful look for boasting about being famous; there was no way she would have actually given him an answer.

Although as the Ixi turned away again, he could have sworn that he caught the Eyrie at the other side of the doorway trying to hold back a grin.

* * *

Next up: The obligatory Christmas oneshot!


	4. Of Mothers and Mistletoe

Also known as "The obligatory Christmas oneshot"

_**Summary:** Christmastime is a time of joy and fellowship. If Brynn can just get those closest to her to see eye-to-eye, they might be able to remember that._

Now, this was a pretty interesting piece to work on. It actually started out as a much shorter story consisting only of a slightly expanded version of the first scene, but then I decided that I wanted a longer and somewhat more meaningful oneshot. As a result, I think the first scene is a bit disjointed from the rest of the story. At the same time, though, it was a _really_ fun bit to write, so hopefully you guys will still like it ^_^ It was also interesting to work on because I got to involve a few new characters (as you probably guessed by the title, lol), but I'll get back to that in a little bit. For now, enjoy the story!

* * *

**Of Mothers and Mistletoe**

Brynn frowned thoughtfully as she unlocked the door to the lower dungeons. They weren't being used at the moment – crime had been mercifully light lately – but Corin, a young cavalry Uni squired under her steed Rallon, had insisted that she needed to check on something down here. He had refused to explain further or accompany her, declaring that she'd know what he was talking about when she saw it.

Hanso really needed to instruct that kid in the art of subtlety when it came to pranking. Brynn knew that the two had been getting along very well ever since Hanso had dragged the Uni into one of his crazy schemes a couple months before, and there was no doubt in her mind that whatever was going on had their names written all over it.

And so it was with a careful hand that she nudged the door to the dungeon hall open and peeked within. A quick look around was all it took to understand just what Corin had wanted her to see, and her frown was swiftly replaced with a slightly puzzled expression as she stepped inside and let the door shut behind her.

All the way down the hall, the bars of the empty cells were hung with wreaths, stockings, and various other pieces of Christmas and winter decorum. Brynn started off down the walkway, looking up at the cheery trappings that seemed so out of place in the otherwise silent and gloomy room, and wondering at the reasoning behind this out-of-place sentiment.

"Surprise!"

Brynn had to hold back a shout as she whirled around. Hanso, who must have been hidden back in a shadowed corner of the cell behind her, now leapt up to the bars with a goofy grin.

The Ixi shook a small wrapped box in his hand. "I've got your present here. Wanna open it a little early?"

Brynn didn't respond for a moment, a bit stunned by the turn of events. Finally she gave him a wry smile and guessed, "Did you set this all up because you liked that idea from the Advent Calendar thing we did last year?"

Hanso's grin turned sheepish. "Uhh… Maybe?" It brightened again an instant later. "But Corin and I made it better! Did you get a good look at the decorations? We thought it'd be a good way to get you into the holiday spirit."

Brynn raised an eyebrow and leaned an arm up against the bars that separated the two of them. "Oh? And what makes you think I'm not in the spirit now?" she asked.

Hanso shrugged and tucked the gift under his arm, pressing his forehead up against the bars with a sly look. "Not much, really. Mostly just the fact that you've been ignoring the decoration on _my_ cell."

At that, Brynn glanced up to find a sprig of mistletoe tied neatly over where they both stood. She smirked and backed away, shaking her head playfully.

"Nope; the rules are that people are supposed to get caught under the mistletoe unexpectedly. You just cheated by setting it up for yourself."

Hanso gaped after her and whined, "Aww, come on, since when are there rules?!" When she continued moving away, he stuck his free arm through the bars and waved it around pitifully as if doing so would convince her to come back. In reply, she just waved back with a small giggle and turned for the door out of the dungeon.

"No, wait Brynn, seriously _wait_!" Hanso cried with a sudden earnest. Brynn paused to look back at him, surprised by the change in demeanor.

Hanso offered up another sheepish smile. "Uhh, this cell door is kind of locked. Can you please get me out of here?"

0 * 0 * 0

Brynn ended up inviting Hanso back to her house for a little while. The Ixi did have her gift with him, after all, and they figured that it would be fun to work on final preparations for the Day of Giving together. Much to his obvious disappointment, though, she still wouldn't give him the kiss that he'd thought he had won with the mistletoe trick.

"Technically, it was still unexpected for you," Hanso tried to reason as the two of them walked up the path to Brynn's house.

"You're acting like I've _never_ kissed you before," she replied with another smirk. Giving him a playful nudge in the shoulder, she added, "Just be patient; I'm sure you'll get another chance soon enough."

Hanso grinned and put an arm around her. "I'll just have to make sure of that, then."

Brynn chuckled and took out her key. As she unlocked the door and pushed it open, she turned her attention inside.

"Mom! Dad! I'm back from work."

Hanso's face blanched suddenly and he took a step back. "Your parents are here?" he muttered nervously.

Brynn turned back to him with a raised eyebrow. "Of course they are. I told you they'd be coming down for Christmas, and that's tomorrow."

Hanso grimaced and rubbed his arm. "But your mother _hates_ me!" he replied in a low voice.

Brynn's expression softened in understanding, and she laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "She doesn't hate you; she just needs some time to really get to know you. Don't you think this would be a good chance to let that happen?"

Hanso cast a nervous glance within the house. Nobody had shown up at the doorway, but Brynn could tell by the muffled sounds drifting in from a room farther back that her family was still present. Finally, the Ixi nodded with reassurance and let her lead him inside.

0 * 0 * 0

Brynn bit her lip, her ears pinned back as she caught the caustic tone in her mother's voice from the next room over.

"I'm going to owe Hanso so much for this," she muttered sullenly, her eyes fixed on the fire of her kitchen stovetop. She was preparing hot cocoa with her father… and severely regretting leaving her mother alone with the poor Ixi.

"Relax, you're doing the right thing," Brynn's father reassured her from over by the cabinet. The spotted Kougra walked over with a few mugs in hand, and she turned to him and let out a sigh.

"I don't get why she has to be so hard on him," she commented. "I mean, I know he used to be a thief and can still be kind of a troublemaker, but he's done so much to make up for that! And you still like him well enough, right?"

The older Kougra smiled warmly and squeezed her shoulder. "Of course I do. Hanso's a nice young man, and I trust your judgment of him."

Brynn huffed. "It would be so much easier if Mother could see it that way, too."

Her father shrugged. "Well, I've heard that mother-in-laws are supposed to be harsh. Maybe she's just practicing."

Brynn merely shrugged as well at first, but then the full meaning of his words hit her and her face went crimson. "_Father!_"

The older Kougra laughed heartily and ruffled his daughter's hair. "I'll tell you what, Brynn," he said. "I'll keep your mother occupied if you get Hanso to help you serve the cocoa. It should be ready by now."

Brynn nodded in agreement, and with that, he left the kitchen and called out, "Why don't you give the poor kid a break, Lara?"

Not a minute later, Hanso scrambled into the room.

"Okay, Corin and I were totally off the mark," he announced. "It's your mom who's in serious need of some Christmas spirit."

Brynn gave him an apologetic smile. "It wasn't too bad, was it?"

Hanso sighed. "Not really, I guess," he replied, grabbing a ladle and using it to scoop some of the hot chocolate from the pot on the stove into a mug. "She mostly just asked about artifact missions and stuff, but from the way she talked it was like she thinks you do all the work while I just mess around. It was like talking to another Jazan!"

Brynn let out a hollow laugh as she started to place the filled mugs onto a tray. "Well, King Jazan has been learning to like you more, so that might be a good sign." She thought for a moment. "Maybe you should try helping with some of the decorations I couldn't get to in the past few weeks? She'll be happier if she can see you being useful."

Hanso's expression immediately brightened. "I like that idea! She'll lay off me for sure once she sees what an awesome decorator I am."

Brynn rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at her lips. "Whatever you say. Now come on, let's get these out to the living room."

The two of them headed towards the room, hot chocolate in tow, only to nearly run into Brynn's father, who scrambled back from the doorway with an overly innocent look on his face as her mother turned from where she was fixing up the Christmas tree.

The slim green Kougra glanced toward the doorway and then gave her husband a pointed look. "Very funny, Damien," she said.

The spotted Kougra raised his hands in defense. "I'm only trying to spread love and cheer, and if you force me to take special measures to do that, then so be it."

Brynn blinked in confusion, and then followed her father's gaze and looked up as Hanso did the same. Tied in the doorway above them was another sprig of mistletoe, which she was quite certain hadn't been there a few minutes before.

"I'm not about to miss out on this chance again," Hanso said, turning to give her a swift kiss on the cheek. She laughed and returned the gesture, whispering a quick Merry Christmas as she pulled away. She then stepped into the room and returned her attention to her parents, setting the tray of warm cocoa on the table, while Hanso broke off to join her mother at the tree.

Brynn's mother stepped back and gave him a slightly perplexed look. Brynn opened her mouth to speak, but the older Kougra cut her off by leaning in to whisper, "Why does he feel the need to come and help us out on Christmas Eve? Doesn't he have his own family to spend time with?"

Brynn's expression fell as she shook her head. "I think he has a family somewhere, but I can't even get him to talk about it," she replied. "I don't think they've seen each other in a long time… He's probably afraid to go looking for them again by this point."

Her mother turned to give Hanso a suspicious look, but her gaze softened after a moment and she sighed. "Hanso?"

The Ixi whirled around with a slightly fearful expression. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

Brynn's mother couldn't help but smile a little at that. "Actually, I was wondering whether you'd like to come back tomorrow and spend the Day of Giving with us. If that's all right with my daughter, of course."

Brynn grinned and nodded, and Hanso's face lit up. From the corner of her eye, Brynn could see her father's expression brightening as well – he was as happy as she that the tension might finally be starting to ease.

And so it was that with warm treats and smiling faces, a little family and its special friend came together to herald the coming of a new day – a day filled with life, love and joy.

* * *

Hey again! I hope that, among other things, you all enjoyed the little glimpse of my version of Brynn's family and Hanso's... Uhh... familial relations. I'll be going more into what's going on with him in a later oneshot, but for now, it's time for you guys to decide what you want to see next. You see, I'm considering making a sort of "bonus chapter" which will give me a chance to explain a bit more about my headcanon on Neopian heritage and on Brynn's family in particular. In addition, this "bonus chapter" would also include a very short ficlet about "the Advent Calendar thing" that I had originally written for a guild newspaper issue last winter. I have no idea whether anyone would really be interested in reading any of that, though... So? Yay/neigh? (Oh, and also, bonus points for anyone who can guess where I got the idea for Brynn's mother's name!)

Regardless of what you decide, or if you don't say anything at all, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas :) As well as a Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, happy winter (or summer if you're in the southern hemisphere), or what have you!


	5. Chance and Fate (Part 1)

Hey guys! Sorry for the unexpected hiatus, but now that summer's in full swing I can finally get back in business.

_**Summary:** A recruiter for the Thieves Guild watches silently as a young Hanso becomes accustomed to his new life as a thief, and witnesses one of the boy's more memorable first encounters._

As you can see by the title, this ficlet is actually the first in a special two-parter. You'll see what makes the two parts distinct enough that I decided to separate them rather than making a single, longer story, but the plan is actually to eventually combine them into that single short story and submit it to the Neopian Times. Wish me luck!

On a (mostly) unrelated note, it seems I was wrong in my previous assumption that Neopian time moves forward with real time. The good news about this is that I can be a bit flexible with the passage of time between events in headcanon, as I did here... the bad news will come about if the writers ever decide to tell an official story that really solidifies the timeline and it interferes with said headcanon .-. Aah, the joys and difficulties of fanfiction writing...

* * *

**Chance and Fate – Part 1**

He watched the boy's progress from the shelter of a nondescript alleyway.

It had been a few months since the incident that had resulted in the Thieves Guild gaining a new leader, and Kanrik seemed to have undergone something of a change of heart just before he'd been named Galem's successor. The Gelert had no tolerance for any sort of treachery now, or for unnecessary brutality from Guild members undertaking jobs.

That suited Heska just fine. The Darigan Uni had had enough of brutality in his homeland's recent wars – it was why he'd left, after all.

Nevertheless, the new policies had inevitably resulted in the more cruel and bloodthirsty members of the Guild leaving, either by their own choice or at Kanrik's demand. And _that_ had resulted in a membership decrease just strong enough that the Guild was going to need some replenishing if it was to maintain its authority in the eastern plains.

At the moment, Heska was a recruiter. And as he watched the boy's progress, he hoped that his gut feeling about this one had been right.

The young Ixi – around thirteen by the looks of him, named Hanso if the Uni remembered correctly – slunk along the streets, keeping an eye out for any promising targets. He'd already managed to pilfer a bit of food earlier, and while the somewhat sloppy execution suggested a lack of experience, Heska didn't mind. Time and a bit of training in the Guild would fix that, and he was really more interested in the intuition that had thus far seemed to come naturally for the boy.

At the least, he seemed to have avoided culture shock and gotten accustomed to his new surroundings quickly enough. Heska had found him in a little town in the Central region, slipping away from the authorities and looking around for passage to another nation. "I gotta get far away from here," he'd said to the Uni. "…But if we could go someplace awesome, that would be great too."

A runaway, no doubt. It certainly attested to the boy's inexperience. Though if his escapades continued to go as well as they had been, he would likely soon learn that Heska had chosen Brightvale because it was where most of the Guild was currently stationed.

Hanso's face seemed to suddenly light up, and Heska craned his neck forward to see what he'd found. The kid started darting from one hiding place to another, creeping up behind two pets who stood out from the rest of the crowd by the uniforms both wore.

Heska grit his teeth – was this boy really so stupid as to be trying to pickpocket _guards_ at his skill level? The Uni was beginning to have serious doubts about his choice of a potential recruit, but then he got a better look at the younger of the two. She really was rather young, a Kougra about Hanso's age, and had the simple uniform and the fresh-faced look of a squire just out of training. And she was the one the boy was sneaking toward.

Heska snorted. So the boy wasn't a complete idiot after all, even though the knight standing beside the girl presented enough of a danger that he must have been acting on pure bravado. Such boldness could actually be a pretty good thing if handled right, and in any case getting caught would provide Hanso with a memorable lesson in choosing his targets more carefully.

And so he settled back and watched. The kid crouched low to the ground, slunk up just behind the squire, and reached a careful hand out toward the money pouch hanging at her waist. And of course, just as his fingertips brushed the heavy cloth of the bag…

The squire's hand came down on his wrist. Heska jumped a little at the sudden movement despite the fact that he was a few streets away. He blinked – the boy's work may have been unrefined, but he hadn't done such a poor job that a new guard would be likely to catch him so easily. The two kids stared at one another in shock for several moments, as if neither could believe what had just happened, and then the girl twisted Hanso's hand around behind his back as he began to sputter out excuses.

Heska chuckled to himself. It seemed he would need to secure the help of a jailbreaker soon, but despite the less-than-stellar outcome of Hanso's stunt, he was fairly impressed. And while it was poor luck that the kid's first capture had been made by a mere squire, it would still serve as a lesson for him in the long run. His observation complete, the Uni ducked out of the alleyway and started making his way to Guild headquarters, mulling over whether he should warn Kanrik and the others not to underestimate the latest batch of young blood in the guard as well as whether to offer his own aid in training the boy.

* * *

And there's part one! Now, the current plan is to write a fun little oneshot next before moving on to the second part, but if anyone wants me to go on ahead with part two first then just let me know :)


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